


Echoing Beats

by erikssiren



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU I suppose, Episode Tag, F/M, Rumple is mentioned/kind of in the first part, This is purely Belle/Will, but he's not there for long
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-09-15 14:32:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9239153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erikssiren/pseuds/erikssiren
Summary: "His hands didn’t tremble as he opened the box with Belle’s heart inside, but it was a close thing. He remembered how it felt, to see his heart outside of his own body, the echo of its beats in his empty chest."An alternate take on the scene in "Lily" (4x20) when Belle gets her heart back.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fic I've written in a while, so I might be a bit rusty. Not beta'd, so please excuse any errors.

His hands didn’t tremble as he opened the box with Belle’s heart inside, but it was a close thing. He remembered how it felt, to see his heart outside of his own body, the echo of its beats in his empty chest. The speech Rumpelstiltskin made to Belle slurred in Will’s ears, blurring together with the memory of Ana sitting across from him, bars and so many mistakes separating them. He couldn’t bear to watch as Belle’s snake of a husband plunged her heart back into its rightful place, tried to block out the euphoric gasp she gave, but he remembered the heady rush of emotions that came with its return. He blinked back tears as he remembered his own screams and the breath that had left Ana’s body.

Forcing his attention back to the present, Will gently took Belle’s hand because he couldn’t bear to think of this as the end, not after how much they helped each other heal. But he knew the strength of emotions that came with this moment – knew that even after hating Ana with everything inside him, that having the one thing that didn’t hate her put back in his body changed everything.

He waited for her to pull away, knew it was inevitable, so he couldn’t help the sound of surprise that escaped when Belle pulled him into a tight embrace.

“I’m so sorry Will," she muttered into his neck. He could feel the wetness of her tears on his shoulder.

“You’re the one whose heart was ripped out, why are you sorry?”

“Because he threatened you,” she said in a bitter tone. “Because the devil forced a deal on you, for me. Because it’s one thing to talk about our past, but it’s another thing to have it skulking around every corner.” She gripped him tighter and he could feel the tears falling faster now. It was everything he hadn’t anticipated and it took a moment for him to respond.

“Hey,” he said as he pulled her away slightly, looking her in the eye. “Belle it’s okay, I’m okay and so are you.” He shrugged with a nonchalance he didn’t quite feel. “So, he’s back, that doesn’t mean I’m leaving you alone. I’m with you as long as you want me.” He doesn’t add that he fears that won’t be much longer. 

“I don’t deserve you,” she whispered morosely. 

“You deserve happiness, Belle,” he said gripping her hands tight. “I hope it’s with me and I may be biased when I say I don’t think you’ll find it with that…man.” He took a deep breath. “But that’s why I agreed to work with him, that’s why I stole from a woman who could have killed me on sight. Because all I want for you is to be happy.” 

“And I want that for you,” she returned. “And I want to be the person who makes you happy.”

“You are,” he reassured her. Ana’s face flashed in his mind and he repressed as sigh. Ana was his true love and he missed her terribly, but honestly he was tired of the past being a third party of his relationship with Belle. Ironic, considering the current situation.

They left the shop in silence, the bag of now cold food clutched in one of Will’s hand, Belle’s hand clasped in the other. 

“What would you do, if Ana came back?” Belle asked as they reached his apartment. The question was expected, but it still shocked him. 

“I don’t know,” he said honestly after the stunned silence. It was the first caveat between them: no secrets. So she knew all about Ana and Alice and his life before Storybrooke, just as he knew about Rumpelstiltskin, her mother and her adventures. 

“I love her, a part of me will always be in love with her…” he trailed off and looked at Belle, who stared at him with tears and too much understanding in her eyes. “But if she burst through that door right now and asked me to leave with her, I’m not sure I would want to.” The tears fell down Belle’s cheeks. “I never expected to find anything – anyone – after the curse brought me here. Figured I’d make me way the best way I knew how: stealing. And drinking. Bide my time until opportunity came my way to get back to Wonderland.” He took Belle’s hand, turning toward her and swallowing past the lump that formed in his throat. “And then I met you – crying over a drink at a bar and I knew my plans had flown out the window.”

“Will…” Belle started slowly. “You’ve helped me in ways no one else could because you understand. But with Rumple back,” she paused, gathering her thoughts and Will tried not to let his heart sink. Moving forward together, if that was what she wanted, was never going to work if he doubted any decision she made regarding her husband. “He’s going to make things difficult,” she finally said. “I threw him out of town and out of my life, but he doesn’t accept that. For all his words today, I know he’s not letting me go that easily. And knowing he’s back, that he could show up at any moment…” she couldn’t speak through her tears and Will realized she was trembling.

Quickly he pulled her close, her head tucking into his shoulder and her arms going around his waist. “I’m no hero,” he said. “Some might even call me a coward, but I swear Belle I will do whatever I can to protect you from him. Even if that means just being here for you in the aftermath.” Her tears flowed harder and for a while the apartment was silent aside from her sobs. When finally they subsided, he spoke again.

“Tomorrow we’ll figure out what we’re going to do – maybe talk to the sheriffs,” he grimaced at the thought and Belle giggled. “But tonight it’s just us -we’ll heat up this takeout and watching a movie or something. Okay?”

She stared at him, emotions flying across his face so quickly he couldn’t discern them all. Finally, she smiled. “Okay.”

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly I don't know where this came from, but I've been re-watching Once Upon a Time and remembered how much I loved Belle/Will when it happened and really, Michael Socha's acting in this scene is great. I'm still disappointed that this was basically the end of their pairing so I wanted to write what could have happened if it went a bit differently. Also, full disclosure, I never got past the first few episodes of Once Upon a Time In Wonderland, but I did watch a few clips, so some of Will's emotions or thoughts about Ana and everything that happened on that show might not be quite right. I'm also not sure how well I captured anyone's voices in this, but I tried.
> 
> Please let me know what you think! And thank you for reading!


End file.
